Kyle and the [H] gang review Abit's Socket 939 K8T800 Pro board. ABIT’s quality is very evident in the design of the AV8. There is plenty of room around the CPU socket for even larger HSF or waterblock units, and other components on the board are spaced so as to not interfere with one another. The only near miss on the board is the lack of an active cooler on the Northbridge chipset. The board used was a version 1.0 sample, with the version number and the board’s serial number prominently displayed to the right of the DIMM slots along the edge of the board. For construction of the AV8, ABIT chose to use capacitors manufactured by the noted Japanese semi-conductor manufacturer Rubycon. There are a few minor things they didn't like about it, but overall, they seemed to be pleased. Socket 939 is the future of the Athlon processor line, so when the CPU prices drop to reasonable levels, this board might be something worth looking at.
It's a Fact I just built a system based on that very motherboard, which was for a friend with some money to burn... It's really that good. I was really impressed with the MoBo's extensive features, it's stability, and of course the K8T800 is awesome for performance. System runs Mandrake 10.0 64-bit Official, and I've never seen a workstation so fast in my life. -AT
